


You’re Not Who I Fell For (So Who Are You?)

by crazyinfj



Series: Febuwhump 2021 [18]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, James "Rhodey" Rhodes Needs a Hug, Miscommunication, Nebula Needs a Hug (Marvel), Nebula also needs a knife to stab Thanos, Not Canon Compliant, Time Travel, Time travel messes everything up, Tony Stark Lives, does it count if it’s a clone of you and not actually you? I guess, hand wavey science
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-12 07:01:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29256372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crazyinfj/pseuds/crazyinfj
Summary: 2014 Nebula leaves present day Nebula back on the ship with Thanos after she retrieved the power stone, and goes back with Rhodey to destroy the Avengers plans. Only, Nebula wasn’t prepared for her boyfriend from the future to stand in her way.Rhodey is worried about Nebula’s sudden memory loss. He doesn’t know just how much she’s lost until she takes advantage of all they had together.Febuwhump Day #20 Prompt: Betrayal
Relationships: James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, Nebula/James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Series: Febuwhump 2021 [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2135274
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7





	You’re Not Who I Fell For (So Who Are You?)

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is...in a word, confusion. We’re dealing with the multiple Nebula’s, time travel - present, past, and then a conversation about the future. So if you’re confused, just tell me in the comments and I’ll help :).

Nebula knew something was wrong when her arm malfunctioned. Fixed by Tony years ago, it had never had an issue. But time travel was finicky, and Tony had warned them to be ready for anything to go wrong.

“Let’s go. This place gives me the creeps.” Rhodey flipped open to the time travel watch. “Back to the future...is that even the right phrase here?”

Nebula just sighed at her boyfriend's antics and counted down. “4,3,2,1…”

—

“Welcome home, daughter.” Nebula heard the voice of the one person she never wanted to hear again. 

With slow, deliberate movements, Nebula reached for her knife. With the smooth movements taught by Ronan, Nebula faced her abuser with a knife to his throat.

“Where is he?”

“The man you were with? He is gone. You are not as fortunate.” Thanos smiled, as if he had the cards in his hands. “You are from the future. For the stone. Tell me daughter, did I succeed?”

“I am not your daughter.” Nebula spat, as Thanos grabbed her wrist. In a realm of her mind Neula didn’t know existed, she heard her sister’s screams as Thanos did the same thing, in a very different circumstance. 

“Take her suit. Go back and ensure that balance remains.”

“Yes father,” a voice responded, and Nebula watched as the past her, the one who had sought so much validation for nothing, bowed before the man who had done nothing but hurt her.

“You don’t have to do this-“ Nebula addressed her former self, and the luphomoid only laughed in response as she ripped the suit off her future self with her knife. 

“You ended up on the wrong side of this war.” 

“Depends on how you look at it.” 

“You have become weak. I am ashamed of what I could become.” 

“I am ashamed of what I have been.” Nebula rested her dark eyes on her younger self, and mourned for everything she couldn’t do for her. 

“Stop talking. Tell her what she is against.” Thanos ordered. 

“I will destroy them father. I am a better warrior than her.” Nebula promised, and Thanos shook his head. 

“No human has ever successfully attempted time travel. Yet you came with one. Who is he? Who do you work with?” 

“He is James.” Nebula felt defensive, but knew she had to control her tongue. She couldn’t give anything away. Rhodey would sense something was amiss and save the day. “We came to get the power stone.” Nebula came up with an excuse on the fly. “There is a rift, a rip in space time continuum. We need the stone to fix it.” 

“And why would you rip another hole in the space time continuum, instead of going to your power stone?” 

Thanos was smarter than people gave him credit for, but Nebula was a trained liar. “The rift was created by the stone of my present. And I need another stone. So I came to a parallel universe.” 

“I am ready, father.” The other Nebula bowed and Nebula internally screamed. How had she ever thought he was a good person? Forcing his _children_ to bow to him? 

“Determine the truth and align sides. I will follow when you give the signal.” 

Nebula knew something was up. Thanos didn't just distribute power like that. He was taking advantage of her need to please him. And that was disgusting. She only had one other weapon in her belt. 

“Tony Stark is there. He is smarter than before, faster, stronger. You will never enter the atmosphere with him detecting the difference. His suits are hypersensitive-“ 

“Go in and get out.” Thanos ordered, his eyes wider and full of expression, what Nebula identified as fear, and the girl was off. 

— 

“Where were you?” 

“My suit…” Nebula paused. “It malfunctioned. I fixed it though.” 

“It malfunctioned?” James looked confused. “Tony’s stuff doesn’t malfunction.” 

“Then we should go to him.” 

James shook his head. “He’s working on the gauntlet with Bruce.” 

“And the others?” Nebula wanted to know who she was dealing with. 

James stopped walking. “Natasha...she didn’t come back.” His voice cracked slightly and Nebula tilted her head. Was Natasha his partner? Why had he been with the alternate universe her then? 

“From where?” 

“Vormir.” James stopped and gave Nebula a quizzical glance. “Nebula, what is up with you? We were both there. I didn’t think you’d forget.” 

Vormir. So it was about the infinity stones. There were rumored, deep in space, that the soul stone rested on an outer planet, in deep space. And now, she knew where that was. Thanos was going to be proud of her. 

“I am okay James. I think I have been affected by time travel, my memories are...gone. I don’t know what is wrong.” 

“Let’s go see Tony then.” James held out his in a strange ninety degree angle and Nebula stared at it until he dropped it. Was he planning on holding something? It must’ve been a weird culture of earth. 

— 

Nebula was led into a large room where two figures were leaning over something large and glowing. One was a human, who must’ve been Tony Stark, and the other was large and muscular...wearing what looked to be a gray sweater? 

“Tony, hey, something happened. Nebula has lost some of her memories...can you just give her a look over?” 

“Of course. Come here Blue Meanie.” 

“I am not a meanie.” Nebula didn’t know much, but she knew that meanie meant that she was mean. And she was not mean, she was vicious. And that was not to be talked about in such a casual way. 

“Sorry, just a nickname I have for you. Guess you really did fry some of your memories. Well, it was a risk, but luckily, with you, I might be able to get them back.” 

Nebula sat patiently as Tony prodded in her head. She watched as a red gauntlet held the six stones, and wondered how she could grab it before her others could stop her. 

— 

On the other side of the room, Rhodey approached Bruce. 

“Something’s wrong with Neb. Can you run a scan on her?” 

“Yeah sure. But I mean, we don’t have a lot of info on her species. It could be anything really.” 

“I just wanna be sure.” 

“I get it.” 

In a minute, Friday beeped with the results. “Everything checks out. DNA is -“ Bruce paused and began to type, his Hulk sized fingers unaccustomed to the small keyboard. “When was the last time we did a run on her DNA?” 

“A year ago maybe? I don’t know? Why?” 

“Her DNA structure is the same, but her cells..the ages don’t match up. Right now, her DNA is younger than her blood in her last test.” 

“Can time travel do that?” 

“Not to humans, at least, not that we know of, but for her species? I have no idea.” 

“Should I be concerned?” 

“I mean, the memory loss is a case for concern, but younger cells? I see that as a win. I don’t know Rhodey. I wish I did.” 

“Thanks Bruce.” 

“Anytime.” 

— 

“When will the gauntlet be ready?” Nebula asked James, who had stuck to her side like glue, convinced she had lost her memory. It was actually helpful because it gave her ignorance an excuse. 

“Pretty soon. They wanna get it done as soon as possible. Just for it to be over.” James sighed, as if he was carrying a heavy burden. “After this, we’ll look into your memories. But, getting everyone back is the most pressing. It’s not that you’re less important...just the stones are from different timelines..so we don’t want anything to destroy our chances.” 

“Of course. The rip in reality-“ 

“You mean the snap?” 

Nebula gave him a quick smile. “Yes, we must fix that damage first. Who will do that job?” 

“I’m not sure. Thor wants to...he’s not in the right headspace for that though.” 

“Hmm. With my younger cells, I could certainly do the job.” _Anything to get control of the gauntlet_

“No.” James’ voice was firmer than Nebula had ever heard it. “I will not let you do that.” 

“We need to reverse the effects of,” Nebula paused and recalled the word “...the snap.” 

“Just promise me Nebby, you won’t.” 

Nebula stayed silent and then nodded her head. What more could she do right now? To refuse would be to cause him distress, and that was not good for her plan. 

— 

“Hey Neb? You alright? You’ve been in the bathroom for a while.” Rhodey knocked on the door, to get no reply. 

“She’s just using the bathroom.” Rocket made pshh motions with his hands _paws? Rhodey wasn’t sure._

“Friday, is Nebula okay? I don’t need much detail, just a yes or no.” They had learned the hard way that Friday was looser than Jarvis when it came to details of people’s private moments. 

“Sir Platypus,” Of course Tony hadn’t switched the name yet, “I asked her and received no response. It is in my preliminary coding to assess the situation with the imputed cameras. It seems Nebula is not in the bathroom. She had just approached the gauntlet.” 

Rhodey was already heading towards the room. What was Nebula doing there? Had she lost even more memory? As fast as his legs could take him (and even with the braces, it was slower than Rhodey would’ve liked) he made his way down the corridors to the gauntlet. With Rocket leading the way, Rhodey mentally prepared himself for the worse. 

— 

“I have the gauntlet Father. Balance can be restored.” Nebula was about to close the hologram of her father when she heard the telltale freak of an unwelcome visitor. Judging by the noise, it was James, who couldn’t control the amount of weight his legs distributed due to the injury. 

“Put the gauntlet down.” James ordered in a soothing voice. “You don’t work for Thanos anymore. He is gone, and no longer can hurt you.” 

“Time travel opens a whole new world.” 

“Please put it down. Balance does not work the way your father thinks it does.” 

“So I succeeded.” Thanos’ voice came over the intercom and Rocket made a dive for Nebula’s com, only to be thrown to the side like a sack of potatoes. 

“We need that to get everyone back. Your team. Your family. Do you remember Peter? The one I told you about?” 

Nebula was surprised at the calm in Rhodey’s voice and would’ve believed it had it not been for his fighter’s stance. 

“You are a fool to think I care about Peter. About anyone. I live to serve Thanos. Father, you may come.” 

“Nebula, put the gauntlet on the table…” Rhodey seemed to struggle. “For me, please.” 

Instead, Nebula only spoke. “You are good. But of no value to me.” And with that spoken, she grabbed the nearest tool and struck the mini arc reactor that powered his braces. 

— 

Outside the compound, Nebula watched as a ship entered the atmosphere. “Father look at what I have done.” 

“Prepare all guns! Fire at will!” Thanos ordered, disregarding Nebula’s comment. 

Nebula held the gauntlet like a football as earth exploded around her. And from the fire came two metal suits. Ironman and his sidekick. 

“Hand it over Nebula. This isn’t the way.” 

“It’s the only way!” 

Suddenly, a blast hit her from behind, and the force caused her to jolt forward, losing grip of the gauntlet. James caught it before she could re balance herself. 

There was only one other plan that might work. And it disgusted her. She hated using her body to her advantage, but she would if need be. And for her father’s approval? It was worth it. 

The moment the other two armored figures took off to fight the battle, Nebula turned and kissed Rhodey. 

He kissed like her like it was a mission. With confidence, he kissed as if he knew every inch of her body, knew every dip of her skin. And it was hard not to get lost in it, the taste of him. But she herself had a mission. When his grip on the gauntlet loosed and tightened around her waist, she grabbed the glove and ran. 

— 

Betrayal tasted like blood, Rhodey realized. It tasted like burning iron. It pooled in your mouth until it became a part of yourself. 

He couldn’t believe that Nebula had done that. Had betrayed them, him, like that. For five years, was she just waiting for the chance? Had the friendship of the team meant nothing to her? What of the meaningful conversations with Natasha about their shared traumas? What about the family she had become with Pepper, Morgan, and Tony? 

And sue him, but Rhodey was going to wallow for himself. He had never been one to live in denial, or even the past, he had never had time for it, but he felt blinded. What signs had he missed? How had allowed himself to be manipulated like this? 

He wasn’t sure if it was self pity or just depressive reflection. Either way, he thought life had dealt him a hard blow today. In the end, it had been Tony that got the gauntlet. Nebula had given it to Thanos, and Peter had intercepted it. Trusting no one, Peter had given it straightaway to Tony, who had snapped his fingers. 

Hadn’t Rhodey gone through enough emotional trauma today? He didn’t deserve to lose his best friend too. 

But death’s never been able to get a firm hold on Tony Stark, despite how much he flirts with it. And the reactor flickers, but doesn’t fail, and Tony’s first glance is at Peter. His second is at Pepper. And his third? Aimed right at Rhodey, with all the sorrow of a friend, and the love of a brother. 

And now, Nebula’s hiding. Rhodey knows Tony didn’t decimate her, because Nebula is his family too. While Tony’s protective of Rhodey, just as Rhodey is of him, Tony is fiercely loyal. It would hurt them both too much. 

“Rhodey.” 

Rhodey doesn’t even wanna look up. He should be glad. They won the battle. But victory had come at a cost and he felt every ounce of it. 

“She’s asking for you.” Tony slowly lowered himself onto the grass, looking straight ahead at his lake. “Pepper won’t let her into the house.” 

“How could she?” Rhodey finally choked out. “Was it fake?” 

“Rhodey, five years isn’t fake.” 

“Then what did I do?” 

“It wasn’t you Rhodey.” Tony turned to his best friend. “You have never forced her to do a single thing. The choices she made today were hers.” 

“Why was her choice not me?” 

Tony didn’t say anything, and let Rhodey lean into him. It was ironic really, that Tony, savior of the universe, was consoling someone as he had just risked his life, but Rhodey and Tony had never been normal. 

— 

It had only been a matter of time. And Nebula had never been patient. She was like Tony, ready to wing it. Rhodey studied the game board and based it on strategy, not personal skill. 

So when she sat down next to him, Rhodey was surprisingly calm, even though it had been only five hours and the hurt was still fresh. 

“Before the whole time heist, I had this, well, plan. I was gonna settle down with a certain luphomoid, I had been buying furniture for a house not far from here. Other side of the lake actually. It helps that my best friend basically owns the lake. Got it for a sweet deal.” Rhodey let out a painful laugh. “And I got my girl a ring. When I went to a store with her, I had her finger measured. She thought it was the weirdest thing. I wondered what she’d think when I gave her the actual ring.” 

Rhodey unzipped his pant pocket. “No time like the present to see? Right?” Without looking at his companion, he tossed her the ring box. “But turns out, she and I didn’t…” Rhodey's voice got quiet, “want the same things.” 

“Rhodey. That wasn’t me. All the things that happened. That’s not me.” 

“The least you could do after that type of betrayal is apologize. If you’re here to give half-assed excuses I’m not gonna stay.” 

“What did I do?” Nebul whispered, looking down at her hands. 

“What did you do? You undermined the one thing we’ve been wanting for five years. You put in jeopardy getting everyone back, including Peter. You threatened my family’s safety! Then you stabbed me in the back and used my affection towards you to get the glove back!” 

Suddenly, Rhodey was pulled up by the collar by a green stranger, who had appeared out of nowhere “It wasn’t her!” 

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Rhodey bared his teeth at the newcomer and glanced behind her. To where Nebula was crying. 

She didn’t cry like typical people, hiding her face and wiping away tears. That had been trained out of her a long time ago. Instead, she would get a daze in her eyes and be transfixed on one single thing. The only tell was the quiver in her left hand. And right now, it was shaking uncontrollably. 

And Nebula had always been his weakness. It had shown just hours ago. He would move hell and earth for her, and now was still the same. 

“Let me down. I’m ready to listen.” 

Gamora eyed him slowly, and all but dropped him on the ground. “You blamed her. Just like Thanos.” 

“He didn’t know.” Nebula broke in, “Gamora, this is my fight.” 

Ahh so this was Gamora. Nebula’s infamous sister. According to the raccoon, she should’ve ripped out his throat by now. 

“If this ends in a fight, I will show no mercy to him.” Rhodey gulped. Two feared assassins on his tail...this day just kept getting worse. 

— 

“It wasn’t you. Explain that.” 

Rhodey didn’t want to stay, he wanted to go into a hole and wallow away, preferably with chocolate and a bad sci-fi movie. But he would stay, because he was a man of his word. 

“When we were at the temple, the 2014 version of me picked up my signal. Thanos intercepted the signal and damaged her arm, damaging mine as well.” Nebula watched Rhodey’s face morph into confusion. “They were able to send me to his ship, instead of back to this timeline.” 

“But you got here.” 

“I’m not done yet,” Nebula snapped, yet continued on, internally begging Rhodey to believe her, to realize that she couldn’t control herself, to see that she still was fighting for him, she wanted him so badly he had to hear her. To believe that she still loved him.“She took my suit, and traded places with me.” 

Rhodey stayed quiet for a long time. “That would explain the DNA. And why you were so...different.” 

“Different?” 

“You didn’t respond to Natasha...sacrificing herself. You seemed...like you were still on a mission. Which I guess, she kinda was.” 

“Rhodey, I’m not proud of what I used to be. But I’d like to think...I’ve changed.” 

Rhodey shook his head. “Neb, I know I acted out of line...I know that was wrong. But believe me when I say this, I will never hold your worst day against you. Nebula, I’m so so sorry, I should’ve know something was up, I should’ve-“ 

“Shhh. You couldn’t have known Rhodey.” Nebula gave him a half hearted grin. “I’m a good liar.” 

“Please forgive me?” 

“I forgive you.” The line felt unnatural on Nebula’s tongue, it wasn’t often where she was given the choice to forgive. But this was Rhodey, and she would forgive him tenfold if that meant he would stay. 

“Look over there.” Rhodey pointed across the lake as Nebula sat down. “That’s our cabin. Pepper and...Nat… they had been helping me decorate.” 

“Our?” 

“If you’ll have me back.” 

Nebula didn’t need to say anything, she just sat down next to him and traced an absentminded yes into his back watching as his face widened into a smile.

**Author's Note:**

> [Crazyinfj’s Tumblr! (aka the writer)](http://crazyinfj.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [Eylle9’s Tumblr! (aka the science beta)](https://tumblr.com/blog/eylle9) She helped me with all the sciency stuff because I know nothing about anything regarding physical science (really any science for that matter…)


End file.
